“I like being full.”
My eyes snap her to hers at the same moment Case walks in from outside. “The water is on.”
She stares back at me for thirty seconds before she turns to him. “Is that why the toilet wouldn’t flush?”
“Yeah, we turn the water and the electricity off when we aren’t here.” Case’s eyes roam over the ingredients on the island and flashes me a thumbs up before sitting down to sort through one of our tactical bags.
“What do you have in there?” She spins in his direction, crossing one long bare leg over her knee. Every move she makes is part of a tease, and she’s damn good at it.
He holds up a nine mil—his eyes drinking in every inch of her flesh from her toes on up—before arching an eyebrow in her direction. “Things you are not to touch. Have you ever handled a handgun before?”
Her smile turns sickly sweet. “I’ve handled many big, dangerous things, including a handgun.”
His jaw tightens, and it’s at that moment I know she’s gotten under his skin. I mean, she’s under my skin, too, but I’m not nearly as intense as Lee or Case, and I can let a lot roll off my back before I snap. He looks like he’s on the edge, and I wonder if he’ll leave her with me to take a long hike off a cliff? “Do you turn everything into a sexual innuendo?”
Her back stiffens, and her lips part before she snaps them shut. “I’ve found that most men respond favorably to it.”
“You mean you’ve found you can put most men under your thumb quickly by teasing them.” His gaze once again rakes over her, but this time, it’s deliberate and meant to make her uncomfortable if it’s the kind of attention she isn’t looking for. “How many men have offered you their kingdoms in your short time on earth?”
Her lips quirk, as if reflecting on a happy memory. “It doesn’t matter. None of them have ever offered what I want.”
“What is it you want?”
She shrugs and hops off the stool, her feet on the stairs before she responds. “I’m going to make sure that toilet flushed.”
“We’re in big trouble,” Case says to me, but his eyes are on the empty stairwell.
“Yeah, she knows exactly what she’s doing.”
“She’s too young to know what she’s doing.”
I shrug. “She’s twenty-two and has experienced shit we never will.”
“Yeah, that’s what I mean.” Case turns to me with a frown.
My eyes bounce up to the stairs. “I’ve been watching her, reading her, and as soon as shit gets heavy in her head, she shuts it down and becomes social media Barbie.”
“Exactly what the camera is looking for,” he completes my thought. “She’s been doing it for ten years.”
“She’d benefit from some time on the cross with Lee. He’d flog all those repressed feelings right out of her.”
Case chuckles and shakes his head, refocusing his attention on the weapons at his feet. “Just because she’s been exposed to a lot doesn’t mean she’s experienced much. She pretty much admitted to being only a spectator.”
“Maybe she’s waiting for the right men.”
“How many women do you know that are looking for the men versus man? We are an intense group, even for some of the more extraordinary women we’ve met.”
“She’s pretty fucking strong. With us, she wouldn’t have to be,” I point out, my eyes glued to the landing where she should appear any minute.
“Yeah, well, let’s worry about keeping her alive for now. Once this is all over, we can worry about other stuff.”
I sigh, turning my back to the stairs and back to dinner. “You’re right. I know you’re right.”